Sunday, 26 April 2015

Braving the London Marathon

As I jumped on the train this morning
I was greeted by a man in a pink spandex squid costume,

with a number
emblazoned across his chest. In London, this sight usually means one thing -
yes indeed, its London Marathon day again!

One year ago that was me (minus pink
spandex outfit), clutching my kit bag and feeling a growing sense of panic that
in a matter of hours I would be running 26.2miles, past some of the most iconic
sights in the city. For someone who had struggled running even half a mile when
I signed up to do the race, I had come a long way. The 6 months in between had
involved more blisters, sickly sports drinks and laps around Victoria Park than
I care to remember.

In honour of my marathon training days I decided to revisit
part of my training route around the park (see pictures below).

So what was it like to run one of the world's most well-known races? For me, it was a rollercoaster of emotions. For the first 9 miles I felt on top of the world,
we were running through Greenwich, the crowd was cheering, I was thinking -"Wow this is incredible! I’m Queen of the World!!

at just mile 10 the heat hit me like a ton of bricks and my muscles
started to seize up. I

desperately wanted to stop and walk, but I knew as soon
as I did that it would all be over. One

thought kept me going "If you
don't complete this race, then you will just need to do another

one.” Somehow
that did the trick

Running across Tower Bridge at mile 13 was simply
indescribable, a tunnel of noise and colour that gave me just the boost I
needed.

By mile 20 I felt like I had been run over by a
herd of elephants. Then I spotted my charity cheer

squad and started screaming
like a maniac. Suddenly I had another much-needed boost of

energy.

My energy boost unfortunately didn’t last for long,
and by mile 22 I was flagging again and so

tired I was on the verge of tears.
Then I bumped into my training buddy just at the point I needed

her most! We ran
the next few miles together, side-by-side, cheering each other on.

By mile 25 the end was in sight and my family were
there with a big 'Go Betsy Go’ sign leading to a mass of people chanting my
name - amazing!

At last there was just 200metres to go. I decide to
sprint it, determined not to finish behind the

man in the panda costume. I
crossed the finish line arms in the air, deliriously happy that it was

over and
I have survived.

One year on, have I suddenly discovered a newfound
love of running? The answer would be a definitive no. I can count on one hand
the number of runs I have done in the last 12months and yet my appetite for
carbs remains as insatiable as ever.

But despite this I can’t stress enough what a
fantastic, memorable part of my London experience the marathon has been.
Nothing quite compares to the knowledge that I have been in the same race as Olympic
athletes like Mo Farah and the feeling of running past iconic sights like Big
Ben being cheered on by thousands of people

So congratulations to everyone who ran the marathon
today – enjoy a well-earned rest. And for those of you who are reading this and
have ‘run a marathon’ on your bucket list – DO IT - sign up to do the London
Marathon in 2016 – you won’t regret it!

That's so fantastic that Chris is planning to do the marathon. It's an incredible experience! Happy to pass on the wisdom of my experience although he has much more of a runner's build than me so I am sure he will do fabulously either way. Ps. Thanks for cheering me on. It really helped!

Thanks Zahra! I am so glad you liked it. If you are into running or like me just looking for an incredible challenge I recommend signing up for a marathon space. While admittedly it is not brilliant for weight loss as you eat so much during training, personally I've never felt stronger, healthier and happier rocking my natural curves

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Betsy is a curly haired creature who can be found wandering around London enjoying its weird and wonderful offerings. Whenever she get the chance she loves to grab her backpack and to explore the great wide world beyond.